


all these people think love's for show, but i would die for you in secret

by bothsexuals



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Sort of a fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25609363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Five times Abed gave up something small for Troy, and one time Troy gave up something big for Abed.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 20
Kudos: 177





	all these people think love's for show, but i would die for you in secret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sapphicpaint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicpaint/gifts).



> This morning, my lovely Jujubee came up with this concept, and let's just say I was inspired and immediately wanted to write it for her because I adore her. So I wrote it. Right away. And here it is. Jujubee, I hope you like it. I love you so much. 
> 
> Title from Taylor Swift's "peace". Stream folklore, folks.

**i.**

Troy had been challenging Abed to different athletic endeavors all day. At first it was fun, sure, Abed enjoyed playing basketball with him a lot, but then Troy had asked him to go to the STD fair with him and Abed had gotten his hopes up only to realize Troy just wanted to keep competing all night. 

He’d won a stuffed animal for him and Troy had gotten _angry_. He was just trying to adhere to the carnival date trope. 

So when Troy asked him to race around the campus, Abed decided to let him win. He just wanted Troy to like him again, really. He didn’t care about winning, he never had. He thought his athleticism would be appealing to Troy, not infuriating. Apparently he miscalculated. 

“Ha!” Troy exclaimed, panting as he came to a halt, “How do you like those apples?!” 

“I don’t like those apples,” Abed dead-panned, “I’m so upset. It was just a fluke I won those other games.” 

“Troy!” Troy growled, raising his fists to the sky in triumph, “Troy is the _king_!”

“You beat me,” Abed said, “can we go back now?” 

Troy turned towards him, and frowned slightly as he returned Abed’s look. Abed couldn’t figure out why. 

“Yeah,” he nodded, still breathing heavily, “yeah, let’s go back.” 

“Cool,” Abed said, “cool, cool, cool.” 

He’d lose everything on purpose if it got Troy to stay. 

  


**ii.**

“We should have a show,” Troy said, sprawled on the couch in Abed’s dorm, a glass of special drink in his hand.

Abed hummed. “Like one of those morning talk shows.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Troy said with an excited smile, “what should we call it?” 

Abed’s brows furrowed as he thought. In movies and shows, people always fought about whose name got to go first in things like these. If he insisted on having his name first, Troy might get mad and leave. So he proposed, “Troy and Abed in the morning,” and exhaled a sigh of relief when Troy enthusiastically agreed. 

He was cool with Troy’s name being first, as long as _and Abed_ followed it. 

  


**iii.**

Abed had always liked the top bunk more. There was something about sleeping so far above ground level that made the whole experience a lot more fun and exciting. But when he moved in with Troy, he didn’t call dibs.

Instead he asked, “Where do you wanna sleep?” 

Troy seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy the top bunk. 

“Top,” he readily replied, just as Abed had expected. 

“Cool,” Abed replied.

It wasn’t cool. He felt weird that night, sleeping in the bottom bunk for the first time in years. It took him even longer than usual to fall asleep- and he already had a hard enough time as it was. But Troy was happy, which meant he would stay. 

At least a little longer, he would stay. 

  


**iv.**

“What is this?” Abed asked, grabbing a bottle of ketchup from the fridge. It wasn’t their usual brand. He didn’t like this brand. His father had bought it once instead of the one Abed liked and they’d been in a week-long fight. 

“I like that one better,” Troy said, taking it from him and squeezing an inordinate amount of ketchup on top of his fries. 

“Oh,” Abed mouthed, “okay.” 

He never bought a different brand of ketchup again. 

  


**v.**

“It was Troy’s turn to wash the dishes,” Annie pointed out, walking into the kitchen, “not yours.”

Abed didn’t look up from the sink. 

“Why are you doing it for him?” she insisted. 

“He didn’t feel like it,” Abed mumbled. 

“And you did?” Annie scoffed, “You always complain when I ask you to do it.” 

“It’s cool,” Abed replied. 

“Then why do you sound so sad?” Annie asked. 

She took the plate Abed was holding and set it down, then used a kitchen rag to dry his hands and held them in her own.

“Tell me,” she whispered. 

“I just don’t want him to leave me,” Abed breathed, “I love him so much, Annie.” 

“He loves you, too,” Annie replied. 

“Yeah, but-” Abed sighed “-that doesn’t mean he won’t leave, Annie. If I’m too hard to deal with, people leave. So I won’t sleep on the top bunk, and I’ll eat the brand of ketchup I don’t like, and I’ll wash the dishes twice as often, because I just can’t lose _him_.”

“Oh, Abed,” she sighed with a sad pout. 

“Don’t pity me,” he pleaded, but tears were welling up his eyes, “it’s fine. It’s a good compromise.” 

Annie didn’t say anything, but she wound her arms around him and sent him to bed, and finished washing the dishes in his- or technically Troy’s- place.

  


**i.**

“No,” Troy said. 

“No?” Abed asked, turning to look at him with furrowed brows. 

“No,” Troy repeated, staring right into Abed’s eyes this time, “no, I won’t do it. I won’t leave you.”

“If you don’t go on this trip,” that annoying dude Troy wished would just shut up already spoke up, “you won’t get a dime of Mr. Hawthorne’s money.” 

“I don’t care,” Troy replied. 

“You always said you wanted to be rich,” Abed said, shaking his head, “Troy, this doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes, it does,” came Annie’s slightly breathless voice. She kept talking afterwards; Troy heard her and Jeff talking with Mr. Stone, probably trying to figure out a way to ensure Pierce’s money wouldn’t go to, say, a racist organization instead- who could know for sure with that dude?

“It doesn’t make sense,” Abed said again, his voice almost a whisper this time. 

“Take this off me,” Troy told the woman who had been overseeing their poly...whatever-it-was test. “Now, please,” he insisted, “take this shit off of us.” 

She rushed to him and freed him, then moved on to Abed, who was still gaping at Troy. He quickly thanked her, then grabbed Abed’s hand and led him outside. He led him to his favorite spot in the library, the spot where they’d sat on the floor their first Halloween together, when Troy first started to realize how lucky he was to have found Abed. 

“It makes sense,” he told Abed, taking both of his hands in his own, “trust me, Abed, it makes sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Abed said, looking the way Troy imagined he did when trying to solve a confusing math equation. 

“You give up so much for me,” Troy said, “did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I know you prefer the top bunk. I know you hate washing dishes as much as I do.” 

“Compromises,” Abed mumbled, “everyone makes those.”

“Abed, you hate compromises,” Troy fondly pointed out, “you almost fought Jeff because you couldn’t agree on a shade of green for our presentation.” 

“I was right,” Abed muttered under his breath, and Troy laughed.

“I’d love to be a millionaire,” he said then, “I would.” Abed nodded. “But I’d rather have ten dollars in my pocket and you in my arms.” 

Abed’s eyes widened. 

“You love me back,” he said, pointing at Troy. His hand was shaking slightly, so Troy grabbed it again and squeezed. 

“I love you back,” he whispered.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Abed asked, the question sounding a little like a whine. 

“I was scared,” Troy replied, “I _am_ scared.” He sighed. “Of my family. Of Shirley. Before he died, of Pierce.” He frowned. “I still am, kinda. Man could be a ghost for all I know.” He lowered his voice for that last part, just in case Ghost Pierce was around to hear him. 

“We can face that together,” Abed said, sounding a little more certain, “even Ghost Pierce. I have Ghostbusters suits for a reason.” 

“Awesome,” Troy hissed. 

Abed nodded slowly. 

“So you’re not leaving me?” he asked then. 

“Never,” Troy replied, “and you don’t need to convince me not to. I’ve made up my mind.” He cupped Abed’s cheek with a hand and smiled. “You’re stuck with me, Abed Nadir.” 

“Troy Barnes,” Abed breathlessly replied, “there’s no one I’d rather be stuck with.”

"Good," Troy breathed.

He wasn't sure which one of them kissed the other first and he didn't care. All that mattered is they did, and it was the most incredible thing he had ever felt- he wouldn't have expected anything less from his first kiss with Abed, everything always felt absolutely magical with him. There was no way Troy could ever give that up.

There was no way he could ever want to leave Abed, and he'd spend the rest of his life trying to convince him of just that, if he had to. It wasn't like there was anything he'd rather do, anyways. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed (especially Jujubee), if you did please leave some kudos/comments!


End file.
